Conan Gray embraces love’s beautiful tragedy in gutted ‘Wishbone’
Conan Gray’s “Wishbone” released to listeners on August 15 following the release of the singles “This Song” and “Vodka Cranberry.” The album takes listeners on a rollercoaster of emotions, detailing heartbreak, familial trauma and longing. Maria Masek | Contributing Illustrator
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Conan Gray is no stranger to heartbreak, longing and vulnerability. In fact, it’s central to his identity as an artist. Gray found his niche writing tragically honest tracks that leave listeners in a state of yearning. His latest work is no different.
The YouTuber-turned musician’s fourth studio album, “Wishbone,” is a collection of authentically Conan songs detailing struggles with love, loss and familial trauma. The release comes only a year after his third studio album, “Found Heaven.”
For “Wishbone,” Gray departed from producer-extraordinaire Max Martin and returned to Dan Nigro, a familiar face who produced Gray’s first two works. This return is obvious in the songs, which contain more acoustic elements than in Gray’s most recent project. The album packs an emotional punch that takes listeners through several stages of a fleeting summer fling.
The opening track, “Actor,” is a wistful guitar ballad about a soured love affair hidden in plain sight. Gray and his partner have since abandoned the affair in question, but its damning effects linger on them both. While Gray is haunted by this “summer spent in a coat check,” a dressed-up metaphor for being closeted, Gray’s partner turns to alcohol, drugs and saving face to rid him of these feelings.
A powerhouse of an opener, this track lets listeners know exactly what’s to come in the following songs: a rollercoaster of rose-colored emotions, slightly tinged by queerness, that remains even years later.
“This Song” is the second track, a song that seems to reminisce on when times were good between Gray and his partner. The single was released on May 30, giving “Coneheads” enough time to believe this album would contain happy endings unfamiliar to the artist’s previous works.
In a similar vein, the music video, starring Disney Channel’s Corey Fogelmanis, transports listeners to the beginning of this fling. Backdropped by Gray’s home state of Texas, the video takes viewers on a coming-of-age journey as fictional characters Wilson and Brando come to terms with their affection for one another. As the song reaches the bridge, Gray’s character Wilson wonders if this love is reciprocated, which it is.
The two share a kiss while Grays sings the outro and confesses, “I wrote this song about you.”
However, like Wilson and Brando, the feel-good energy of “This Song” only lasted half the summer, as track three, “Vodka Cranberry” brought listeners back to the familiar, longing nature of Gray’s previous work. The second single, released alongside another music video, details the moments when the love affair goes sour between the two boys. The storyline between the duo seems to mirror the personal experiences Gray sings of.
The chorus repeats three times throughout the song, growing increasingly potent each time Gray says “Speak up, I know you hate me.”
The intense transition between the album’s two leading singles complements the storytelling Gray uses throughout the album. One month it’s bliss and the next it’s stale discontent, just like the fleeting connection Gray captures.
The next few tracks take on a more carefree attitude toward the affair. “Romeo” and “My World” describe Gray taking back ownership of his life while acknowledging his partner’s flaws. The lyrics in “Romeo” dig at its subject’s bad habits and ego. “My World” shifts the focus from heartbreak to identity, just in time for the following tracks of a similar theme.
On tracks six and seven, “Class Clown” and “Nauseous,” Gray further reflects on his sense of identity through vulnerable lyrics. “Class Clown” details Gray’s ability to use humor as a shield to deflect from his turbulent home life. “Nauseous” goes further into his upbringing, highlighting the artist’s fear of abandonment he learned at home.
The next song, “Caramel,” explores the peculiar way the mind twists memory. Like heat caramelizes sugar, nostalgia sweetens memories. What once hurt, if given enough time, becomes something candylike. The longer pain sits, the sweeter it seems, and thus the more curious we are to try it again.
“And the longer burn, the sweeter that you smell,” he sings in the chorus.
The penultimate track, “Eleven Eleven,” serves as the album’s thesis: though Gray was ultimately hurt by these experiences with this flawed individual, he still misses that sweet thrill of a fling.
Much like the album’s namesake, the artist uses superstitious wishing symbols like a clock reading 11:11, four-leaf clovers and angel numbers to confess that he still longs for the connection he once had. The track parallels “Astronomy,” one of Gray’s previous songs that details a lost connection that felt fated.
Gray closes out the album with “Care.” The track serves as a smooth ending to the rollercoaster of emotions felt before. It’s a lighter song in which Gray makes peace with the fact that sometimes there are road bumps that we can’t quite get over. That’s not necessarily a good or bad thing, but rather just a fact we must accept. Gray seems to admit that deep down he will always care, though his life is much better now that the connection has ended.
“Though I won’t miss being your lover, I’m still losing a friend,” Gray sings, reminding listeners that a knife cuts both ways.
“Wishbone” is the most authentic and vulnerable project the singer-songwriter has made so far in his career. Everything about the body of work — from the painfully candid lyrics to his impressive vocals to the cohesive thematic elements — highlights Gray as the voice of a generation that feels so deeply.
In an Instagram post from the album’s release day, Gray described the work as something he’s dreamed of making his whole life. This sense of fulfillment is clear through the album’s songs. I wouldn’t be surprised if this work gets the artist his first Grammy nomination.
Across 12 tracks, Gray manages to capture the arc of a summer fling: the happy beginnings, the messy ending, the self-assessment and the stale, lingering resolution. The artist reminds listeners that while a wishbone never breaks evenly, there’s still good to be found in its fragments.
